Raonic overwhelmed by Federer in Wimbledon quarter-finals
Andy Murray upset, Novak Djokovic withdraws with right elbow injury
In a Wimbledon rematch, Milos Raonic proved to be no match for Roger Federer.
The third-seeded Swiss great, trying for a record eighth Wimbledon title, systematically dismantled Raonic in quarter-final action at the All England Club on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory.
"I can say with fact that I did everything I could to try to find a way to win," Raonic said. "And I think that he is just mentally on top of it. You can see that there's not much doubt in his mind. He's feeling it."
Raonic, the tournament's sixth seed from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals last year before losing to Andy Murray in the final.
Perhaps that defeat lingered in Federer's mind, because he looked like a man on a mission Wednesday, flummoxing Raonic with his service game while showing no fear of the Canadian's cannon arm. And it was no contest at the net, with Federer routinely finishing off rallies with finesse.
"He's doing a lot of things well," Raonic said. "Could I have been more efficient at the net? Yes. But he kept the pressure on me.
"It wasn't like I was just sitting there hitting volleys and there was nobody at the other side of the net. He was doing great things to keep pressure on me all the time."
Raonic had five break point opportunities — four of them coming in one game in the third set — but Federer saved them all. Federer broke Raonic three times in six chances.
Raonic looked better in the third set, holding serve and taking it to a tiebreak. But Federer set up match point with an ace, then won when Raonic hit a return wide.
"He kept a very high gear the entire time without giving many real glimpses, and that was the most defeating thing," Raonic said.
Both players ended the match with 11 aces. It was the first time at this tournament that Raonic was held under 20 aces.
Federer, who has yet to drop a set at Wimbledon, improved to 254-2 when winning the first two sets of a match.
With Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal all out, Federer is the last of the "Big 4" stars left in the tournament. He will next face 11th-seed Tomas Berdych, while the other semifinal will feature No. 7 Marin Cilic against the surprising 24th-seed, American Sam Querrey.
Raonic thinks an eighth Wimbledon title is Federer's to lose.
"Regardless who's in or not, I think (Federer) has been playing the best tennis this year," Raonic said. "As much as you can say about sport, which is one of the least predictable things, he has it in his grasp."
While Raonic failed to reach a second straight Wimbledon final, he does leave the tournament with his health.
For Raonic, who has struggled with injuries over his past two seasons, that counts as something of a win.
"Until about Paris, where I played consecutively (Lyon and French Open), I didn't really have a chance to think about tennis," he said. "Everything was how am I doing things? What am I doing? Am I getting out of each week healthy. So it's a relief now that with a certain training block and recovery block that I have the pieces in place and I can focus on tennis.
"It gives me a little bit of mental relief that I don't have to worry about how I'm going to end each week."
Sam Querrey stuns Andy Murray
Limping between points and fading down the stretch, defending champion Andy Murray was stunned by 24th-seed Sam Querrey of the U.S. 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 in the quarter-finals Wednesday.
The No. 1-seeded Murray came into the tournament dealing with a sore left hip and it clearly impeded him at Centre Court. He grimaced as he stumbled or landed awkwardly while attempting shots.
Querrey took full advantage to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career — and the first for any American man anywhere since Andy Roddick was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2009.
"I am still in a little bit of shock myself," Querrey said.
Djokovic retires, considers taking break
Novak Djokovic is considering a break from tennis, with surgery on his injured right elbow now a possibility.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion, who has won three Wimbledon titles, retired from his quarter-final match against Tomas Berdych at the All England Club on Wednesday. He said his elbow has been giving him problems for a year and a half.
"It's not a time and place for me to talk about the details," Djokovic said after pulling out while trailing 7-6 (2), 2-0. "I'm just going to talk with specialists, as I have done in the last year or so, try to figure out what's the best way to treat it and to solve it, to find a long-term solution."
At the end of his news conference, speaking in Serbian and translated through an interpreter, Djokovic alluded to the fact he could end up taking a long break.
That would be a first for Djokovic, who has been one of the best players on tour for about a decade. He won the first of his six Australian Open titles in 2008, and won four straight majors from the 2015 Wimbledon tournament through last year's French Open.
He hasn't won one since.
"The specialists that I've talked with, they haven't been really too clear, mentioning also surgery, mentioning different options. Nobody was very clear in what needs to be done," Djokovic said. "Yeah, I guess the break is something that I will have to consider right now."
Canada's Dabrowski moves on
Canadian Gabrielle Dabrowski advanced to tomorrow's mixed doubles quarter-final with teammate Rohan Bopanna of India.
The 10th-seeded pair defeated the Croatian duo of Nikola Mektic and Ana Konjuh 7-6 (5), 6-2 to move on to the final-eight stage.
With files from Canadian Press